Biden administration sues Texas, seeking to block new abortion ban

President Joe Biden's administration on Thursday sued Texas, seeking to block enforcement of a new law almost entirely banning abortion in the state, as Democrats fear the right to abortion established almost 50 years ago may be at risk.

The US Supreme Court last week let stand the Texas law banning abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy, before many woman realise they are pregnant.

Although that decision did not address the constitutionality of the Texas law, it nevertheless represented a major victory for social conservatives who have been trying to ban abortion since the court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision established the constitutional right to the procedure.

Attorney General Merrick Garland called the Texas law "clearly unconstitutional."

"This kind of scheme to nullify the Constitution of the United States is one that all Americans, whatever their politics or party, should fear," Garland said. "If it prevails, it may become a model for action in other areas by other states."

The Texas law relies on private citizens to enforce it by filing civil lawsuits against people who help a woman obtain an abortion after six weeks, whether that be a doctor who performs the procedure or a cabbie who drives a woman to a clinic.

"The United States has the authority and responsibility to ensure that Texas cannot ... deprive individuals of their constitutional rights by adopting a statutory scheme designed specifically to evade traditional mechanisms of federal judicial review," the Justice Department said in a filing in US District Court in the Western District of Texas.

The law allows people who sue to receive bounties of at least $10,000 and makes no exceptions in cases of rape or incest, although there are some very narrowly defined exemptions for the mother's health. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott defended the law this week, saying that the state would "eliminate all rapists."

Focus on Mississippi case

The Supreme Court's decision not to block the Texas law left abortion-rights activists worried that the court, on which conservatives hold a 6-3 majority, may be open to overturning Roe when it hears a case involving a Mississippi abortion ban later this year.

Abortion opponents predicted that the Biden administration challenge to the Texas law would ultimately fail.

"Joe Biden has a long record of failures with protecting the unborn and pregnant women," said Texas Right to Life Vice President Elizabeth Graham. "His DOJ will quickly find that they do not have jurisdiction to stop the Texas Heartbeat Act."

Because it takes several weeks before pregnancy can be detected on a standard urine test, Texas women could have just a one- or two-week window to seek an abortion before being banned from doing do under the law. Some 85 per cent to 90 per cent of abortions occur after six weeks of pregnancy, and leaving the ban in place could cause clinics to close, abortion-rights groups warned.

Whole Woman's Health, which has four Texas clinics, praised the Biden administration move.

"It’s a monumental time for the federal government to step in and restore all people’s rights to safe, high-quality abortion care," Amy Hagstrom Miller, the group's chief executive, said in a statement.

A majority of Americans believe abortion should be legal, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling. Some 52 per cent said it should be legal in most or all cases, with just 36 per cent saying it should be illegal in most or all cases.

But it remains a deeply polarising issue, with a majority of Democrats supporting abortion rights and a majority of Republicans opposing them.

The action marked the second major lawsuit the Biden administration has filed this year trying to block a move by a Republican-controlled state government. The Justice Department sued Georgia in June, challenging the state's sweeping new voting law.

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